About
Insurance, in the context of broader disaster risk management strategies, can increase community resilience and reduce recovery times when disaster strikes. Total economic losses to property and infrastructure from natural disasters averaged around USD 180 billion annually in the last decade, 70% of which are uninsured. Asian low and middle-income countries, in particular, have disproportionately low insurance coverage despite high susceptibility to natural disasters.
Understanding risk is critical for the management of extreme events and natural disasters. Yet high quality catastrophe risk models to assess and price the severity and probability of loss from climate-related risk are not readily available or adequately developed in Asian low and middle-income countries. Key barriers include the cost of model development and maintenance, lack of standardized hazard, exposure, and vulnerability data, and the difficulty in accessing locally available data and specialized knowledge. Under-developed insurance markets also inhibit demand for these products.
The Oasis Platform for Catastrophe and Climate Change Risk Assessment and Adaptation (the “Platform”) is a set of tools that together aim to offer a more transparent, robust and comprehensive approach for analyzing and pricing risk from extreme events.
The Platform could strengthen climate resilience by helping to narrow the gap between insured and uninsured losses, and extending the use of catastrophe risk modeling beyond the insurance industry for risk-informed decision-making.
The Platform would reduce modeling costs and catalyze investment in model development by lowering transaction costs and enhancing competition. Were the Platform to become the modeling infrastructure underpinning the development of catastrophe risk insurance markets in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Bangladesh – the countries in Asia which The Lab Secretariat identified as the most suitable candidates for pilot projects and that have garnered the most interest from relevant stakeholders – the Platform could indirectly facilitate an additional USD 1.4 to 6 billion of property insurance coverage.
To demonstrate the use of the Platform in the identified Asian countries, proponents and potential implementing partners are developing strategic partnerships with suppliers and users of data and analytics, both in-country and with international public and private organizations. The Platform recently launched its pilot, the Oasis E-Market, in Asia in March 2017. The Oasis E-Market is a web-based marketplace to link demand and supply for risk analytics.
Proponents estimate that around USD 10 to 14 million in private and public investment would be needed to demonstrate the Platform’s potential.
DESIGN
The Platform would achieve its aim through three main elements that together offer a comprehensive and transparent approach for analyzing and pricing risk or understanding costs from extreme events. These components, which are at different stages of development and can also work independently, are:
- A Loss Modeling Framework: Open source loss modeling software to allow users to ‘plug-and-play’ a range of standardized data to calculate the potential economic damages and financial risk of catastrophic events;
- An e-Market: An open access web-based marketplace to link demand for risk analytics with suppliers of data, models, tools and services;
- Capacity building: Training to model developers and users to increase their ability to develop and use catastrophe risk models compatible with the Platform and that can meet the needs of a range of users, including re/insurers.
In addition to these components, proponents have also initiated the development of a global exposure database to provide key inputs to risk models.
More information at: https://www.oasishub.co.uk/
Details
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Impact
The Platform could strengthen climate resilience by helping to narrow the gap between insured and uninsured losses, and extending the use of catastrophe risk modeling beyond the insurance industry for risk-informed decision-making.
The Platform would reduce modeling costs and catalyze investment in model development by lowering transaction costs and enhancing competition. Were the Platform to become the modeling infrastructure underpinning the development of catastrophe risk insurance markets in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Bangladesh – the countries in Asia which The Lab Secretariat identified as the most suitable candidates for pilot projects and that have garnered the most interest from relevant stakeholders – the Platform could indirectly facilitate an additional USD 1.4 to 6 billion of property insurance coverage.
Invest
To be announced
News & Events
Oasis Platform to be used for catastrophe modelling in the Philippines and Bangladesh
August 1, 20182016 Global Lab instrument Oasis, an open source catastrophe modelling platform, is pleased to announce a major project funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) for the co-development of catastrophe models for flood in the Philippines and windstorm in Bangladesh. Oasis’ […]
Two Lab Proponents Win FT/IFC Transformational Business Awards
June 7, 2018The Financial Times and the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, held a major global gathering today of investors, business innovators, social entrepreneurs and other thought leaders, in which the winners of the annual FT/IFC Transformational Business Awards were announced. Three Lab proponents were selected for the shortlist, out of […]
Oasis Platform pilot moves forward in Asia
March 1, 2017March 1, 2017–The pilot of the Oasis Platform for Climate and Catastrophe Risk Assessment in Asia has passed the pre-selection process of the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB). Dickie Whitaker and Tracy Irvine, the proponents of the Oasis Platform, are now working with the Lab Secretariat […]
Oasis Platform receives endorsement from two key players to take the pilot demonstration forward
November 15, 2016November 15, 2016-The Oasis Platform for Catastrophe and Climate Change Risk Assessment, which works to provide access to transparent and standardized analytics to improve understanding and management of risks in regions vulnerable to extreme climate-related events, has now cemented ties with the two key groups of stakeholders relevant for its pilot. It received endorsement from the Insurance […]
Global coalition of governments, investors, and foundations launch four new financial instruments to catalyze billions for developing country climate action
June 27, 2016London, June 27, 2016—Today the Global Innovation Lab for Climate Finance (The Lab) announced endorsement for four new investment vehicles that are ready to pilot in developing countries. This announcement is in partnership with The Lab members, including the Danish, Dutch, German, United Kingdom and United States governments, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Willis Group, development […]
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Contact
Tracy Irvine
Oasis Hub
tracy.irvine@oasishub.uk
Dickie Whitaker
Oasis Loss Modelling Framework
dickie.whitaker@oasislmf.org